Winter Hats

Thank you to the lovely ladies of New Harvest Church in PA for the wonderful hand made winter hats and scarves for the kids in Stroiesti.  The kids had a great time picking out their own hats and scarves and then picked out for younger siblings and parents. We had enough left over that I was able to give hats and scarves to the kids in my Wednesday Night House Church for Children in the city. 

Just a reminder

I know it’s getting close to Halloween, which means costumes will soon be all sale.  Please remember our summer camp theme of “Treasure Island” as you pass by the sale displays.  We would love for all the kids to have some sort of pirate costume or Island princess costume.  Face paint and wigs are also great fun for them.

Thanks for thinking of us!

Bragging on my kids!

I had forgotten to tell this part of the story about our trip to Dorohoi.  Better late than never.

This year had a very bountiful  harvest and so I had no problem asking the  kids to bring vegetables for our meal that Bogdan was fixing.  He made a list of vegetables for the soup and the salad.  I shared the list with the kids and they didn’t hesitate to volunteer.  In fact, when the list was complete, other kids started volunteering other things like apples and walnuts.  I said, ok!  We can have apples for a snack.

The following week, each day, when I was at school, kids would come up to me and asked what there mothers had volunteered.  I asked them, “what are we going to do with all the extras?”  They decided to leave the extras for the kids in the orphanage, since they don’t often get good fresh vegetables.  Well, when word got out about this, I had mothers calling me (whose kids weren’t even going on the trip) asking me how to deliver vegetables for the kids in the orphanage.  We ended up with my trunk full of vegetables and 4 litters of milk, not including 2 huge sacks of potatoes.

We were able to leave 9 large grocery bags full of vegetables for the kids in the orphanage plus a bucket full of apples.  The Stroiesti kids felt good that they were able to help out others. The director of the orphanage was very grateful!   I was so proud of my kids for thinking of the kids in the orphanage.  I’m just sorry I forgot to take a picture of all of it!  Next time!

Adventures in the Wild West

Today we took 25 kids from Stroiesti to the orphange in Dorohoi.  We used a local center.  Our theme was the Wild West and when I told the kids that, I didn’t mean for them to be wild, but there you go.  We played lots of games, including one where the kids “hogtied” themselves together! Our lesson was “Wanted: by God” and the Bible story was about Paul’s conversion.  The kids really paid attention and liked the story.  Afterwards, they made wanted posters for themselves.  We had planned more games and crafts, but just ran out of time. With 60 kids total it was time consuming just to get them organized! But we had a great time!

Ministry Opportunity

I really didn’t think that Bogdan working on the new house would lead to a ministry opportunity for Stroiesti….

As many of you know, Andrei is in his 3rd year of the mentoring program and is the only boy.  He’s in his second year of high school and is studying to become a chef like Bogdan.  This past summer, Andrei worked in the kitchen one week with Bogdan.  Andrei really looks up to Bogdan and respects him.  I knew I would never be a good mentor for Andrei–he needs a man.  I’m thrilled that Bogdan is such a good, godly influence for Andrei. He really needs it, he is 16 after all.

Last week, Andrei came and worked with Bogdan and our friends, Florin and Giani on the house 2 days.  Andrei loved it.  He worked hard and made some money for school. This was true mentoring.  And one, we just didn’t think about when we bought the house. But God knew and provided this opportunity for Bogdan, as well as Florin and Giani to be good influences on Andrei.

Our House

This blog was supposed to go out the day Bogdan went into the hospital.  But I thought it was best to wait.  Bogdan is doing great and working at the house. Praise the Lord.

Last week, Bogdan and I were able to buy a house.  It’s what is called “until the roof,” meaning that it’s not a completed house.  The windows and outside doors are in and all the electrical work is done.  The well has been dug, but there is no pipe installed. We have 2500 square meters of land (not sure what that is in America).  It’s a lot of land with room for a big garden and space to have a cookout and a place for Baby Ghitun to play.  The first floor has a living room, kitchen and large bathroom.  The upstairs is still one big room, but we have plans to turn it into 3 bedrooms and a bathroom.

The house is in a village near Suceava. We are 13 km or 8 miles from Suceava city center.  The house  is about 15 mins from the school in Stroiesti, but not by main road, by going on a back road (most of which is gravel). We can actually see Stroiesti from our house and we can see the mountains we love so much.  It will be a beautiful view to wake up to each morning.

As many of you know, in 2008, I sold my house in Wilmington.  I put the proceeds in an investment account and despite the bad stock market, there ended up being enough money to buy this house for cash.  We feel so blessed that we don’t have any mortgage payments. God is good!  Now, we just have to finish it.  We start work on the house next week with simple stuff like varnishing the decks and balconies. The work crew will start in about 2 weeks once materials are delivered. We know that God was in this and we praise Him for this great house.

Happy Homeowners!